MEMORY &

INTELLIGENCE

MEMORY: The ability to retain information through encoding, storing, and retrieving.

Sensory Memory works as a filter. It allows us time to determine what to pay attention to.

SPOT THE REAL PENNY

MAINTENANCE vs. ELABORATIVE REHEARSAL

Even though you live in the United States and probably see hundreds of pennies a week, it is difficult to identify the real one from fake ones. Mere repetition, such as seeing something over

and over again does not guarantee a strong memory.

Maintenance Rehearsal = repetition

Elaborative Rehearsal = linking new information to material that is already known Improves your chances of remembering it!!!!

Short-Term or Working Memory Use it or lose it!!!!!

Chunking = Grouping items to make them easier to remember

Working with information…..

George Miller (1956): 1st to discover STM can hold 7 bits of info (+ or - 2);

Short-Term or Working Memory Use it or lose it!!!!!

Mnemonic Devices = Techniques for using associations to memorize and retrieve information

Working with information…..

Primacy vs. Recency

Read the following list once and try to remember the animals’ names

Bear, giraffe, wolf, fly, deer, elk, gorilla, elephant, frog, snail,

turtle, shark, ant, owl

Primacy – better recall of beginning informationRecency – better recall of info at end of list/task

Long-Term Memory

Types of Long-Term Memory

Episodic memory – memory of our own life (Personal facts) What did you eat for breakfast?

Semantic memory – knowledge of language rules, concepts, facts, words What bird cannot fly?

Declarative memory – Stored knowledge called forth consciously as needed; includes episodic and semantic

Procedural memory – Storage of learned skills that does not require conscious recollection (motor skills)

Memory and the Brain

We are still learning about the role of the brain in MEMORY. To what extent the brain isinvolved is still beingdetermined.

Retrieving Information Key = Organization of info in LTM

Recall: the ability to bring back and integrate many specific learned details

Recognition: the ability to pick the correct object or event from a list of choices

Reconstructive Processes: the alteration of a recalled memory depending on experiences and attitudes

The brain IS NOT a video recorder

Photographic memory – ability to form sharp, detailed visual images of a picture or page and to recall exactly what you saw.

FACT: 59-year-old Akira Haraguchi recited from memory the first 83,431 decimal places of pi, earning a spot in the Guinness World Records.

FACT: Super card sharks can memorize the order of a shuffled deck of cards in less than a minute

FACT: According to evidence, it's impossible to recall images with near perfect accuracy

DOES IT EXIST?

• Eidetic Memory – The ability to remember with great accuracy visual information on the basis of short-term exposure

5% of children

Very rare in adults

• Eyewitness Testimony• It is often wrong• Involves recognition • Memory of event is often distorted• Eyewitnesses can be misled by questioning

• Distortion: Misremembering because of bias or suggestibility

• College students remembered 89% of their high school “A” grades but only 29% or “D” grades.• With eyewitness testimony, suggestibility can cause an incorrect identification as in cases where people were convicted and later freed as a result of DNA evidence. • Divorcing couples

FORGETTING

Types

Decay – fading away of memory over time

Amnesia – loss of memory as a result of a blow to head or brain damage. Other causes: Stress/Drugs

Interference – blockage of a memory by previous or subsequent memories or loss of a retrieval cue

•Proactive Interference: prior learning interferes with learning new information• Retroactive Interference: newly learned information interferes with previously learned information

Repression – pushing the memory of a threatening or traumatic event deep into the unconscious

DID YOU KNOW!

Flashbulb Memories are vivid recollections of events that are shocking or emotional

DID YOU KNOW!

The SQ3R method of studying improves your ability to recognize and recall information

INTELLIGENCE:IQ & TESTING

• PSYCHOMETRICS - subarea of psychology concerned with developing tests to assess abilities, skills, beliefs, traits, etc.

INTELLIGENCEThe ability to acquire new ideas and new behavior, and to adapt to new situations.

Different views on Intelligence exist

Two-Factor Theory: Intelligence includes a general ability (g) level and specific mental abilities (s)

Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence Theory: Numerous (8) and unrelated intelligences

Emotional Intelligence: The ability to perceive, use, understand, and regulate emotions.

INTELLIGENCE TESTMeasure IQ, or a standardized measure of intelligence based on a scale of which 100 is average

Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale: • Originally meant for children; adapted for adults• Groups test items by age level• 100 is average for given age

Wechsler Tests: • More common today• Three versions (2-6, 6-16, 16-89)•More detailed scoring

•Normal Distribution - The distribution of scores (commonly called IQ scores) on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale follows an approximately normal curve, an average distribution of values. The test is regularly adjusted so that the median score is 100—that is, so that half of the scores fall above 100, and half fall below.

IQ SCORES – What do they mean?

Average score is 100

Traditionally 70 or below = mentally handicapped

Good indicator of success in school

Do not predict success in the real world

Nature v. Nurture: Both genetic factors & the environment play a role in IQ. The % each contributes is debatable.

Cultural Bias: wording used in questions may be more familiar to people or one social group than to another group